16 Springfield sites part of Saturday's Illinois solar tour

More than 130 sites across the state will hold open houses Saturday for people to learn about sun-generated power, including 16 sites in Springfield.

“The solar tour is an opportunity to educate the public about how affordable and reliable clean energy, particularly solar energy, is,” said Lesley McCain, executive director of the Illinois Solar Energy Association, which is coordinating the tour. “I hope that people understand how easy this is. It is much cheaper and cleaner to get our energy from above, the sun, instead of having to dig under the ground to get coal, oil or gas.

McCain said only a lack of state solar incentives, a victim of Illinois' ongoing budget problems, may be holding back some who have considered solar power as an option. The federal incentive has been extended, and many local utility companies like Springfield's City Water, Light and Power also offer enticements to use alternative energy sources like solar, she said.

Making own 'juice'

Saturday's tour of solar installations can be taken the “green” way in Springfield with the Springfield Bicycle Club, which will offer a morning ride starting at 10 a.m. at Southwind Park and an afternoon ride that leaves at 1 p.m. from the Capitol Complex Visitors Center at 425 S. College St. Bicycle Doctor owner Robert LaBonte is helping to set up the bicycle tours, and he also will showcase the solar installations at his business and an adjacent residence.

“We are a 'green' business, and this is certainly a great way to get power. Our lights and air conditioning are all running off of solar,” LaBonte said. “I've built my own solar homes and such for years. We've had this installation for four years, and it has been absolutely trouble-free.

“We have a $1.80-per-day electric bill on average, so we make a lot of our own juice. The initial outlay is a bit of an investment, but there is federal grant money for this and tax incentives. So you have an up-front cost, but you recover that usually within five years, I mean the whole thing, like down to zero.”

LaBonte noted that the electric bicycles sold at his shop also get their first charge from solar power.

Springfield resident Bob Croteau has been involved in local solar projects since 1989 and played a major role in three of the local sites on the tour.

The Abraham Lincoln Unitarian Universalist Congregation held fundraisers and used members from the church who are contractors to purchase and install their solar array. It has been operational since early 2015, features a web-based remote monitoring system, and “faces southeast, toward the morning sun, so solar electricity is running the lights and sound during the morning services,” said Croteau, who spearheaded the effort.

The net metering program offered by CWLP means that “if we are producing power when we don't need it, it allows the meter to spin backward,” he added.

Th Southwind Park solar sunflower was a Croteau design that generates power but also features a solar calendar.

“At the top there is a sculpted bee, the shadow of which at noon creates a calendar line depending on where the sun is in the sky,” said Croteau, who also will show visitors the solar installation at his residence, and combine it with a history lesson.

“I have a history of hardware that I set out for visitors on the solar tour,” Croteau said. “You can see the module on my roof, and then in my driveway I will have these various other modules, starting from the late 1970s with one that was installed on the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. It still produces electricity.”

'Good business'

Michael Higgins of Maldaner's in downtown Springfield will show off the roof-mounted solar panels that supply approximately 15 percent of the restaurant's power. Combined with the switch to LED lighting, going green saves Maldaner's up to 35 percent on energy costs.

“Green business is fine, but it is also just plain good business” because of the cost savings, Higgins said. “Plus with things like the solar tour, we get a lot of advertising just from the fact that we have solar panels.”

The sun shining on the gymnasium roof solar panels at the Bradfordton Athletic Center, another solar tour location, is helping to keep people cool as they work out, according to co-owner Chris Nickell.

“As you can imagine, a large gymnasium has a pretty hefty electrical usage, mostly because of the air-conditioning units. The biggest hit that we get is in the dead of the summer, which is of course the best time to collect solar power,” Nickell said. “We had such a horrible, humid summer this year so our air-conditioning units were running more than they usually do. We sized the system to provide approximately half of our total usage on an annual basis.”

-- Contact David Blanchette through the metro desk: 788-1517.

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Illinois solar tour sites

Visitors to the 16 Springfield sites on the annual Illinois solar tour will be able to experience double the number open to the public in Chicago. The solar tour runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and features the following area sites:

Information

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